One Crazy Weekend

Whew! What a weekend. I know, it's only Sunday morning, so technically the weekend is not over yet. But frankly, I won't be doing anything else this weekend because I am too beat. My Sunday will be less than blog worthy, so you can hear about my Friday and Saturday instead. But only if you want to. I am realizing that this post is going to be more "journal entry" than any other posts I have really done. But at the same time, it serves as yet another illustration of why I love my life here. Exhaustion and all included, this is a happy place for me.

Friday was actually a really nice day at work. It is spring break in the Salt Lake schools, and as a result many of my own students don't come. Added to that was the fact that we had some sort of a virus going through our class, and we sent a lot of kids home with high fevers throughout the week. That lowers numbers for me (one major difference between a teacher and a parent is that teachers are relieved when children are sick). So at faculty meeting Thursday night (an excercise in frustration and futility, but not part of the weekend) my boss tried to coherse me into taking Friday off. I had entirely too much to do at work on Friday, between parent conferences and upcoming kindergarten screenings, but I caved and took the morning off in order to get ready for other events this weekend. I also got off work early, so I really only had to work 5 hours, most of which were spent doing paperwork type things. I love working with kids, but every once in a while, a day without them is a relief and a blessing. When I finally clocked out, I wasn't the least bit stressed or irritated by them. I went straight over to Cafe Rio, to meet up with Lucie, of blueberry pie fame. She and her husband were in town, and we had arranged to meet up so I could meet their new little guy and we could catch up.

Isn't he just darling? Look at those round cheeks and his big brown eyes. I got a lot of smiles and hugs and took far too many pictures. After finishing our burritos and salads and whatnot, we headed over to temple square to be tourists and enjoy the grounds. It was the absolute perfect evening. We were there at sunset, it was a cool and partly cloudy evening and every flower you could possibly imagine was in bloom. I wish I could post the smells for you.

But you will have to be satisfied with a few pictures.

When I got home that night, I had the pleasant surprise of finding the already mentioned contract in the mail. Here's a little more background. When I audition for bigger productions and companies, I never quite know what they want or expect from me. This audition is for pretty much the biggest company in Utah, other than the Tab choir, which is in a different league entirely. At the audition, I knew that they were doing an aria or art song and then some sight-reading. (That's when they hand you some music that you have never seen before and you sing it by looking at it, un-aided by piano or accompaniment). I went in to sing, did my art song (Wie Melodien) and within the first few lines saw the judge circle something, write a few notes and then put her pen down and tap her fingers. That is extremely disconcerting to a singer. It means the decision was already made and I was forced to finish the last two verses of the song wondering what the heck had already been decided. After I finished my song, she didn't even ask me to read the sight singing part. She just thanked me and sent me away. So my assumption was that I was so terrible she didn't even want to have to endure the second half of the audition. I called a couple people for reassurance, but they just told me to quit being paranoid. So I put it out of my mind and began seeking other shows.

Now do you see why it was such a pleasant surprise to get that contract? I was entirely convinced I had flunked with flying colors. Apparently, quite the opposite was the case.

So, Friday night was not over yet, because I still had to turn this: Into This:
Which worked, as you can see. Or here's another angle:

I think it looks like a chocolate volcano spewing forth M&Ms. Joy.

On Saturday morning I was hosting a bridal shower. I tend to get really stressed about such things. Here's why: people make me nervous. Especially large crowds of people at my house. I become convinced that in order to gain their approval I have to do something fantastic. I fall back on my food skills and obsess over creating a gourmet spread. Because lets face it, a party can flop or succeed purely by its food. You can have no games and a whole crowd of people that have never met and even lousy music and not enough chairs, but if the food is good, people will chat and enjoy themselves and leave with that warm fuzzy filled feeling. Or you can have brilliant games and close friends and all the entertainment in the world, but if the food sucks, people will leave early and find a resaurant to hang out at.

Friday night I obsessed over the cake. Saturday morning found me at the grocery store by 6, picking up the ingredients for bruschetta and crepes and all of the appropriate fixin's. I wish I had taken a picture of the spread before it was entirely consumed by the 21 people who were wandering around my crammed living room. Here is one frustrating thing about Utah culture. It doesn't matter how convenient you make the RSVP process, people just show up. I had 8 people on the list of confirmed guests. Myself and the Bride included. So I suppose its a blessing that I obsess over the food. I planned for 20, served 21, and had leftovers for dinner. In fact, there is still a half a bowl of the best bruschetta I have ever made in my fridge. They cleaned me out of Nutella and there is one banana left, and I made 18 eggs worth of crepes and we went through two loaves of bread. And then I still have a huge amount of cake left. Please, feel free to drop by, I will feed you!

Saturday afternoon I was supposed to attend a dance call-back, but there was no way I could have functioned. With the headache I get from being social, I fully collapsed on my bed and had one of those great naps that means afternoon sunshine on your face and dreamless drool on your pillow.

I had intended to go to the Tab choir concert that night, but was still in a state of disarray as far as my house and my mind, so instead I turned on some mindless music (I love pandora.com) and I recovered most of my sanity. I would be lying if I didn't admit to there still being a few dishes in the sink. But I was too cheap to spring for plastic forks. By 8 pm I had resigned myself to visiting the redbox and finding a chick flick to keep me company for the evening. I even turned off my phone and ate more cake while I watched it. Mmm. Chocolate volcano cake.

I woke up pretty early this morning. I feel good. My day will consist of blogging, Music and the Spoken Word, church, and needlework. I'm not even sure that I have anything in my kitchen for dinner other than more leftover bruschetta and cake. Perhaps oatmeal. That works well enough for me.